Total sales over the festive season will decline because of low levels of housing transactions that will affect home-related sales, deflation in categories such as electricals, and the capacity that has come out of the market from retail failures over the past year, the consultancy Verdict said.

The postal operator has been told by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) that it will soon be forced to begin charging valued added tax (VAT) for many of its services, having previously been exempt. At a stroke, that would add 17.5 per cent to the prices it charges businesses, rendering it at a serious competitive disadvantage.

Some of his professional rivals beg to differ. In 1993 ILC, which has been in existence for 16 years, stated in publicity material that it was a member of the Eurolink group. It was not, and the real Eurolink in Sheffield – another distance learner provider – took legal action and forced the reference to be removed.

O2, of course, also has exclusive rights to the iPhone here. But while you can see the attraction of such deals to O2 and its rivals, why would a handset maker choose to limit potential sales by selling only to the customers of one network?

Although the group’s ?387m (Â£350m) profits were distorted by a 42 per cent fall in fuel costs after 2008′s sky-high oil price spike, and mask a 17 per cent decline in average fares, passenger numbers shot up by 15 per cent in the six months to the end of September to reach a total of 36.4 million.

Each of them claimed that they absolutely had to do this because the
regulations demanded it. If the regulations really were responsible ? and
that’s a dubious assertion to say the least ? the regulator they really need
to worry about appears to have decided that enough is enough.

Christopher Rodrigues, the chief executive of the mortgage lender, Bradford & Bingley, hit back yesterday at criticisms of the buy-to-let mortgage market, as he revealed its lending in this sector had more than trebled in the first half of the year.

Shares in Countrywide Financial plunged a further 13 per cent yesterday amid continuing turmoil in the US mortgage market. Three smaller rivals have gone bust in recent days, and another was fighting for its life, trying to reassure investors it would find the financial backing to carry on its business.